Today we will talk about a man who lived the life of the cross and proved it by his deeds. A man who led the life of the cross, as is sung in the troparion to the Life-Giving Cross of Christ, like all the saints and the righteous--St. Nikephoros.
The Venerable Nikephoros (Tzanakakis) the Leper. Photo: Christianityart.gr
The Venerable Nikephoros was a Cretan. As a student, I met many Cretans with leprosy at the infectious diseases hospital in Egaleo near Athens. My father-confessor was Fr. Evmenios (Saridakis), who was a Cretan too and in the final years of St. Nikephoros’ life was his novice. You know, for me St. Nikephoros was not just a saint whose Life I read in a book, but in a sense he was my spiritual father.
The future saint was born in 1890 to pious parents in Sirikari, a mountain village in the nome of Chania in Greece. His secular name was Nicholas. His parents died prematurely. At the age of thirteen, Nicholas was already an orphan, and his grandfather took care of him. His father's house in Sirikari is similar to old houses in Cyprus, which were actually cells of hermits who lived in the world. In those days true ascetics were outwardly no different from many people in the world.
His grandfather took Nicholas to Chania, the town closest to Sirikari, and there he studied to become a barber. Immediately after he had returned to his home after studying, spots began to appear on his body, which puzzled him.
Leprosy, this terrible disease, came to Crete from Crusaders and from Arabs in ancient times, when the island was under the Arab rule. There was no Arab rule in Cyprus, because the Akritai were stationed there.1 In the Pentadaktylos Mountains, opposite the Morphou Bay, there is the Gulf of Attalia (now Antalya), where the Byzantine "naval base" was located, which in modern times is equivalent to the Sixth American Fleet. Cyprus experienced twenty-five Arab invasions with looting, seizures and destruction of towns and villages, but it has never been under Arab rule. On the contrary, a large group of Arabs from Spain, namely from Andalusia, captured Crete, which was under Arab control for 280 years and risked losing its Orthodox faith. Crete was liberated by the great commander, and later the Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas. The result of Arab rule was the spread of leprosy.
I was impressed that in 1980, when I was studying at the Department of Law in Athens, half of the lepers at the infectious diseases hospital in Egaleo were Cretans--I saw only two or three Cypriots there. True, there was a wonderful man in Cyprus, Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios,2 who had a leper colony built in Nicosia during the years of Turkish rule.3 Kornesios was later killed by Turks. He gathered all the lepers of Cyprus, and the residents were saved from the terrible disease. There was nothing like that in Crete though. Once someone had contracted leprosy, the mayor, along with a policeman and a doctor, had to take him out of the community and put him in a cave or in an old uninhabited house. Not only was leprosy a painful disease, but it also meant social isolation. Young Nicholas, a fourteen-year-old orphan from Chania, was well aware that it meant a living death to him. It buried his dreams, health and communication with people.
In 1905, having learned that there was a real problem with leprosy there, Prince George visited Crete and decided to give the small island of Spinalonga north of Crete to those infected. Thus, all the lepers, who, in fact, were living dead, were settled in Spinalonga. A community of almost 500 lepers--that is, a small village—was created. But even there they did not stop suffering and they were isolated from the rest of society.
Nicholas was in a panic. He concealed his illness and waited for a chance to leave Crete, because he had heard about various bad things that were happening in Spinalonga. At the age of sixteen Nicholas went to Alexandria where there was a thriving Greek community, and in order to earn his living he took up the trade he had learned at home.
He worked as a barber and tried his best to hide the bare parts of his body--his arms and face. He was worried that the leprosy would show up and be visible to others. Going to Alexandria was even more dangerous than staying in Crete. If Arabs had arrested Nicholas, his situation would have worsened. The shadow of death hung over the young man.
In one of his photographs we see a guy who already had leprosy, but it did not manifest itself outwardly. Nicholas was very sociable, he was loved in the Greek community, he had a beautiful voice, and overall he was an agreeable person. In this photo Nicholas holds a prayer rope in his right hand. Someone suggested that he make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. It is difficult to imagine how significant that pilgrimage was for young Nicholas. He remained in Alexandria until 1914 (then he was twenty-four)--this photo was taken at that time.
Twenty-four-year-old Nicholas Tzanakakis. Agiosnikiforos.gr Nicholas traveled to the Holy Land. Recalling the tradition of popular piety in Crete associated with pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he venerated the Holy Sepulcher and the Holy Cross. The only one who understood how important that pilgrimage was for him was Elder Evmenios, who at that time lived with Fr. Nikephoros. Elder Evmenios’ secular name was Sophronios, and later Archbishop Timotheos of Crete gave him the name Evmenios during his tonsure.
The following short funeral speech was written by a holy man, Elder Evmenios. Read it to understand how the Venerable Nikephoros was transformed internally, once he had bowed to the Holy Sepulcher and venerated the Holy Cross.
This is what Elder Evmenios said after St. Nikephoros’ death in 1964: "If pain, sorrows and trials were taken away from people’s lives, then holiness would belong to angels alone. This truth, which is an axiom of our Orthodox faith, was known to Father Nikephoros (born Nicholas Tzanakakis). He fell asleep in the Lord on January 4, 1964, and was born in Chania in 18874 to pious parents. He suffered from leprosy, which he did not regard as a curse, but a special favor from Heaven and a personal calling from Christ, the Founder of ascetic feats. At the age of seventeen he left his homeland to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and especially to the Place of execution (Golgotha), where pain was sanctified, and Golgotha became a symbol of winners over sorrows and sad events in life. From there, from this inexhaustible ocean of boldness and patience, he drew boldness and patience to bear his cross high continuously for fifty-two years.
“In 1912, he was admitted to the leper colony on Chios and was tonsured by the Holy Father Anthimos (Vayianos). Who can enumerate his spiritual struggles in his new life! Although his body was decaying, and day after day the disease took away his body parts: eyes, arms, legs, and then he became paralyzed, but his inner man was being renewed by the spirit. This ever-memorable man cast aside all possible passions and vices, practicing blissful passionlessness and total obedience to the will of God and his spiritual father, and became to the highest degree a man of fervent prayer. He was not very eloquent, but his wide and kind smile preached better than the most skilled preacher can preach, so his cell became a font of spiritual Baptism. For all who visited him, and for us, Father Nikephoros was a spiritual oasis in the desert of this life. His repose caused us indescribable sorrow, but also joy, because we believe that we have a fervent intercessor before the Lord who will keep us from the machinations of the evil one. Eternal memory to you, for the righteous will live forever! The least of your spiritual children, Monk Sophronios of Agios Nikitas."
Thus, Nicholas Tzanakakis, a young man from Crete, went to Jerusalem, already stricken with a horrible disease, to draw strength from the Cross. And, as another leper, now reposed, my great friend Aristides, rightly said, he went there in order to “church” his pain. How important it is to put our pain into the Church, no matter where the pain comes from: be It from illness, sorrows, slander, poverty or whatever we suffer from! And to establish a special relationship with the Life-Giving Cross, in which all the holiness of our Lord Jesus Christ is concentrated, and to pass it on to those who worship Him in repentance with humility and pain. Nicholas' soul felt this, and he went to Golgotha, to the Holy Cross of our Lord, to acquire inspiration and enlightenment. And where did the pilgrimage lead him? To a very pious bishop, whose name is now being searched in the archives. All we know about him is that he hailed from the island of Samos. After confession he told Nicholas:
“My child, this disease is incurable and aggressive. You must go to a place where there are other people with this malady. You don't want to go to Spinalonga in Crete. I know a holy man who lives on the island of Chios.”
Residents of Chios built a leper colony. To be more precise, crusaders built it out of necessity in 1380, and later locals renovated it and made it the best leper colony in all of Greece. It still exists, but, unfortunately, in ruins. There was a true man of God there, St. Anthimos (Vayianos) of Chios, who became a role model for lepers. He was a spiritual child of St. Pachomios of Chios. He had two saintly spiritual children: the Venerable Anthimos and the Holy Hierarch Nectarios of Aegina. St. Nectarios was born on the island of Chios. When he was a teacher in his parents' village, he visited St. Pachomios, who tonsured him. Then the Holy Hierarch Nectarios went to Alexandria, but he corresponded with St. Pachomios until the latter’s death: if I am not mistaken, he passed away in 1905.
The leper colony on the island of Chios (ruins). Photo: Agiosnikiforos.gr
Another spiritual child of St. Pachomios was the Venerable Anthimos (Vayianos), also a native of Chios. He fell ill, and St. Pachomios blessed him to go from the monastery to the olive garden that belonged to his family. From time to time the Venerable Anthimos met with St. Pachomios, and he instructed him. And when Fr. Anthimos heard that lepers lived at the leper colony of Chios, he decided to become their abbot in order to guide, direct, and organize them. And, providentially, he never contracted leprosy.
Elder Evmenios remembered the Venerable Nikephoros saying:
“Before my very eyes Father Anthimos healed forty-three demoniacs.”
He had such degree of holiness!
Lepers were special people: they acquired grace very quickly, felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in their hearts, and their prayers had power. A person sentenced to death is resurrected if he bears his cross worthily. Thanks to such a mentor as the Venerable Anthimos, a great number of lepers in Chios were strengthened in prayer. The fame of the saint spread quickly throughout Greece. At that time, a Cypriot priest was possessed by an evil spirit and in order to be healed he went to the Venerable Anthimos (Vayianos) so that he would read the necessary prayers over him.
The good bishop of Alexandria, whom I mentioned above, sent young Nicholas with a letter to the Venerable Anthimos. He boarded a ship and reached Cesme, which is a little north of Smyrna (Izmir). There, on the coast of Asia Minor, the Venerable Anthimos was waiting for Nicholas. I was impressed by the Venerable Anthimos’ mercy: like the father from the parable of the prodigal son, he came out of Chios to meet the wounded sheep of Christ. He took Nicholas to Chios. The local government issued a law according to which only a resident of the island could be admitted to the leper colony. The Venerable Anthimos had raised money for the construction of a convent, but gave it to the leper colony for the young man from Crete to be admitted to, because the saint with his gift of clairvoyance foresaw Nicholas’ future. He took him to the leper colony, taught him how to pray properly and practice ascetic life, which helped him resist pain.
What is missing in the book that our brother in Christ, Father Simon,5 wrote is the pain caused by leprosy, which lepers at the infectious diseases hospital in Egaleo often told me about. There was no cure for leprosy back then. Elder Evmenios told me that the pain was like an iron pitchfork being driven into your back and your flesh was torn off. Not to mention the fact that all your limbs, fingers and toes, nose, ears and wherever there is soft tissue, begin to rot with unbearable pain and with such a terrible stench that others cannot approach you. And there is the constant fear that the disease is contagious. The remedy for leprosy did not appear until after the Second World War. Even today people suffer from leprosy, but it is easy to diagnose and cure successfully.
The Venerable Nikephoros and Anthimos on the island of Chios. Photo: Agiosnikiforos.gr
In 1914, Nicholas came to Chios. The Venerable Anthimos saw that he had good progress in spiritual labor. Nicholas asked to be tonsured as a monk.
One day I said to a man of God, whose name I will not disclose, because he is still alive:
“I am ill, my legs hurt, and it is hard for me to celebrate the Divine Liturgy.”
He replied:
“Turn the controls!”
"What do you mean?"
He answered me:
“What did the Venerable Nikephoros do when he was told that he had leprosy? At first he was despondent and panic-stricken, he felt pain, but then the Venerable Anthimos helped him, ‘turned the controls’ and said to Nicholas: ‘The Greater the Cross, the greater the Resurrection! As the body is sick, the soul is being renewed! It is enough to transform pain into prayer! Let me transform it into your crucifixion in Christ.’
“Afterwards, when Elder Evmenios was told that he had contracted leprosy, he fell out of bed with joy.
“I asked him:
‘God have mercy! With joy?’
‘Yes, with joy!’
‘Why?’
‘Because a great cross is a great visitation of God, a great resurrection! I said to Him, "My Christ, I am unworthy to bear such a cross! Thank You so much for giving me such an honor!"’
“Nicholas, later the Venerable Nikephoros, did not say such a thing. Why? He was not a monk. When he contracted this disease, he was a sixteen-year-old guy. Nicholas wanted to live, but there was no Anthimos next to him who would ‘turn the controls’ towards Christ. This is a great thing: no matter what kind of cross the Lord has allowed us, there must be someone near us who, like St. Anthimos, would ‘turn the controls’ towards Christ. Otherwise, grief, depression, and even despair will accompany us.”
After monastic tonsure, Nicholas received the name Nikephoros.
